MP Ian Liddell-Grainger has appealed for the public’s help in countering a rise in rural crime. He says families in country areas have a potentially significant role to play in acting as the eyes and ears of the police and reporting suspicious vehicles, activities and people.

Mr Liddell-Grainger, MP for Bridgwater and West Somerset, was speaking after a meeting with Avon and Somerset Police and Crime Commissioner Mark Shelford - on Exmoor for a fact-finding visit.

He said the meeting had been useful but it had merely served to underline how police resources were being stretched dealing with a rising number of thefts of tractors, trailers, machinery and equipment from farms and rural homes.

Lately there has been a surge in the number of thefts involving catalytic converters - high-value targets because of the precious metals they contain.

But, said Mr Liddell-Grainger, the fight against crime could be greatly helped by increased public vigilance.

“I have been stressing for years that the rural crime figures have climbed as police resources in the countryside have been steadily diluted,” he said.

“That is a widely-held view but there seems precious little chance of manpower levels in rural areas being increased any time soon, so we have to do what we can as individuals to assist the police.

“I stressed to Mark Shelford the need in areas such as Exmoor for crime intelligence to be shared fully and rapidly between his force and Devon and Cornwall because we are dealing with a problem which pays no regard to local authority boundaries.

“But the most valuable assistance rural families can offer to the police is to report suspicious activity of any kind. As experience has shown even people who appear to be innocently flying drones could in fact be criminals using them to spot potential targets on and around farms.

“Even the simple action of noting the registration number of a suspicious vehicle can lead police straight to an offender: the more information people can pass to the police the greater chance there is of making life difficult for criminals and of starting to reduce the rural crime figures.”